Owls beaten in shoot-out to open season

CLINTON -- The Marshall boys' soccer team played even with Clinton through two overtime periods Thursday before losing a 2-1 non-conference road match on penalty kicks.

The Owls scored the first goal of the season when senior Ben Valencia won a one-on-one battle with junior goalkeeper Sean Bowling by sticking the ball into the left side of the net in the 25th minute of the first half.

The teams duked it out over the next 65 minutes without resolution. Marshall had an advantage in shots on goal, but Bowling came up with 14 saves during the match.

The Owls suffered a blow late in the second half when senior 'keeper Isaac Phillips went out with an injury, but freshman Levi Jacobs kept Clinton from scoring until the shoot-out.

The Cardinals (1-0) made four of their five shots, the last one -- by junior Marty Komer -- clinching the win after Marshall made only two of four. Valencia opened with a goal, but Bowling saved the effort from junior Kevin Morales.

Junior Chris Medrano made his effort to keep the Owls alive, but senior Jeremy Sporleder's attempt clanked off the crossbar.

Marshall (0-1) will debut at home Tuesday with a non-conference contest against Smithton.

Girls' Tennis: Marshall 9, Higginsville 0

HIGGINSVILLE -- The Marshall girls' tennis team set a new school record with 14 shutouts a year ago, and -- despite replacing its top four singles players -- began the current season the same way Thursday with a 9-0 non-conference win at Higginsville.

Other than junior Amanda Harrelson's 8-5 decision at No. 5, those were the closest singles tilts. Freshman Taylor Crawford debuted at No. 3, beating a senior who was a starter for the Lady Huskers (0-1) a year ago, by an 8-2 margin -- while juniors Payton Beeler at No. 4 (8-1) and Idalia Aguilar at No. 6 (8-0) cruised to wins.

Crawford and Beeler got a tough match at No. 2 doubles by Higginsville juniors Elizabeth Twyman and Sarah Vereecke, but won by an 8-5 count. Marshall's other doubles pairs -- Evans and Markes at No. 1 and Harrelson and Aguilar at No. 3 -- notched 8-1 victories.

The Lady Owls also blanked their hosts in the junior varsity contest, 5-0.

Baysinger had an RBI single and sophomore Sloane Totta brought in two runs with a base hit during the Lady Hornets' five-run first-inning rally which started with back-to-back errors.

Four more runs crossed in the bottom of the second, Baysinger driving in one with a double. She added a single for another run in the third.

The Lady Owls had their chances. Senior Abby Crawford doubled to put two runners in scoring position with no outs in the top of the first, but both were stranded -- as was senior Courtney Crusha at third base following a two-out triple in the second and two more in the third after senior Jessica Johnson singled and sophomore Shelby Dawson doubled with two out.

Sophomores Dacrie Depping and Haylee Ebersole each had a pair of hits for Fulton (1-0, 1-0 NCMC).

Marshall (0-2, 0-2) will play three games Saturday in the Monroe City Tournament.